Railway structure.



No. 818,800. PATENTED APR. 24 1906. E. S. THOMAS.

RAILWAY STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.14,1906.

71/ k I MW:- N TOR P BY ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 24, 1906.

Application filed February 14, 1906. Serial No. 301,026.

To It whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN SETH THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Railway Structures, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s.

TVIy invention relates to railway structures, and particularly to the construction of the j oiilit connecting the end portions of abutting ral s.

The object of my invention is to provide a joint of the kind just referred to which will do away with'the disa eeable clicking sound made by the car-wheefs as they pass over the joints now in common use, which will prevent the relative vertical motion between the ends of the abutting rails as the weight of the train passes over the joints now in common use, and which will add to the life of the rails and promote the comfort of travel. By mv invention hereinafter more particularly described these objects are accomplished without the sacrifice of stren th at the joint, and the rail-sections which form my new. joint are more readily assembled, more cheaply manufactured, and more eflicient in operation than are those heretofore provided for the accomplishment of the objects above set forth.

In the drawings illustrating the principle of my invention and the best mode now known to me of applying that principle, Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much of a railway-joint as is necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of what is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line A A of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is anelevation showing the inner face of one of the rail members or extensions; and Fig. 5 is a sectional detail illustrating a modification.

Each rail a is formed at each end with a lon itudinal extension I), the outer side face 1c oi which lies in a vertical lane through the edge of the top a of the rail, metal filling in the open space in the body portion of the rail between the top 0 and the base at the side of the web e. This gives to the joint a sufficiency of metal to insure its having the requisite strength and allows the rail to be made at a cost much less than that attending the roduction of the complicated shapes heretoore used in joints having like objects in the structure and avoids the weakness of structures in which the inner faces of the joint are beveled throughout theirlen th, and the ends of the rail extensions are t iin and liable to be broken by the sudden and severe shocks to which these structures are subjected in their ordinary use.

The very extremity of the rail extension isslightly beveled at g and is thereby adapted to fit into the beveled shoulder h of the cooperating rail extension, and from this extremity projects a longitudinal tenon i, which engages in a mortise formed in the outer side ace k-that is, each rail extension I; is formed at its tip end with a tenon i and at its other end with a slightly-beveled shoulder h, near which, in one of the outer side faces 7c. is formed a mortise 7'. The rails are assembled by inserting the tenon i of each rail extension in the mortise 7' of the cooperating rail extension and bringing the beveled extremity 9 into a close fit withthe shoulder h at both ends of the joint. The inner opposed side faces f will then lie in-a plane passing vertically and lengthwise through the midline of the web e, and each rail extension I) will have a thickness equal to the half-width of the rail-top c, as is clearly shown in the drawings. The tenon-and-mortise construction serves to resist shearing stress and to give solidity to the joint, and thereby prevent relative vertical motion between the cooperating members forming it. The shape of the rail extensions is such that they may be readil manufactured and that they afford plenty of strength to the joint.

Along the bottom of the outer faces 7c extends a flange by which the rail extensions may be spikeif to the ties. The rail extensions may be further suitably secured together bybolts m.

' InxFig. 5 there is shown a sectional detail illustrating a modification wherein the tenon n is dovetailed into the mortise o, as will be readily understood without further explanation. I The parts of my new joint allow for expansion and contraction due to temperature variations without affecting the strength of the structure.

What I claim is In a railway structure, a railway-j oint made up of two abutting rails each having a body portion comprising a top and a'base connected by a web, and projecting from said body portion a lengthwise-extending rail extension formed at one end with a mortise in one of its outer faces and with a shoulder into which fits the extremity of the cooperating rail extension, and at its other end with a longitudinally-projecting tenon which fits into the mortise formedin the cooperating rail extension said 1m n'tise-and-te'non connection serving to resist shearing stress and prevent relative vertical movement between the cooperating rail extensions; the outer side faces of the rail extensions lying in a vertical plane through the edges of the top of the body portion and the opposed inner side faces of the rail extensions lying in a vertical plane through the central line of the Web, said rail extensions having each a thickness equal to half the width of the top of the body portion and a flange projecting outwardly from the outer side faces along the base; and the top of the rail extensions lying in prolon ation of the top of the body portion of the rai EDWIN SETH THOMAS. Witnesses:

, CHAs. EMORY DONALD,

lARL EMIL CARLSON. 

